Too Dark Prints with epson et-2650 using Darktable or GIMP

I would say you need to fix your lighting first and then profile your display.
If you just set the luminosity of the screen to 100-120 cd/m2 (as usually recommended for editing) then your perception of light/dark part of image in your environment can be altered and prints can also be too dark.
And keep in mind that you have rather non-photographic monitor therefore it may not correctly show you the colors.

And in the end how to you assess they are too dark? Did you look at them in a daylight without looking to display?

Hi the workplace has no problems with direct lighting. Yes Iā€™am aware of the fact my monitor is not specific for editing photos color wise. Only i think that the brightness of the screen and possible other bad standard settings of my monitor and printer are the cause of dark prints. Which profile available would you advice to set in linus concerning the screen. Do you have a workibg profile for linux Is there a print that can be downloaded as reference for checking. I checked my prints in normal natural light and they are too dark.

Right, for printing the luminosity should be between 70 to 90 cd/m2.

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Thanks for the update.

An update :)).

Did some base adjustments of the monitor (no calibration still have to order de colori-metre).
Found out that the base settings were far from " standard".
I lessened the Brightness and adjusted the contrast a bit (following basic info of site cambridgeincolour.com).
The screen now is more pleasant to look at (not so bright). But Did a print check still to dark :((.

Then found out i used the fujifilm style classic chrome in processing the image.
After starting from scratch (without activating the fujifilm style (classic chrome)) the printed image (on plain paper) has become much more brighter let say even acceptable.
I only adjusted the color with the " color correction module" and " velvia module" (to come near classic chrome of fujifilm), did some dehazing and also activated the base curve with " fujilike" (did shot the image some time ago with my Nikon though:)))

Still see some color difference between print and screen. So hoping to order a colori metre soon.
Which device is most advisable and which program i have to install on my linux Argentos system?

DisplayCal is the program, closed source or open, to calibrate your display. Lucky for us, the program is open source! You should chuck the dev a donation, as this is literally the best software available.

Calibration devices from Colormunki or spyder are OK. Check eBay or your local camera club, and you can grab one cheap or borrow one. I believe you can also rent one from lensrentals.com or similar.

Hi Mica,
Thanks for the info and update. Will use the advised program. Until now did not find a friend who has a colorimetre. But we have some other options.
So using fujifilm styles in processing images in darktable is not advisable when you want to print the image.
Greetings.

I wouldnā€™t say its not advisable, but if you want to apply the fuji styles, you need to lighten your image some other way to achieve the lightness values you want.

Ofcourse that is also an option. The problem for me at this moment is that its not easy to estimate the intensity of the extra brightness needed without losing the contrast. Will take some try and error :grin::grin: its better to develop a own color style.

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Iā€™m not sure if this suggestion will be of some help but in the darkroom I recall producing ā€œtest stripsā€ on an image for trial and error to evaluate prints and get the result I wanted. I also remember doing this in photoshop for digital prints around 2003 and 2004, before I was aware of profiling.

I would take a photo and develop it as I wanted in the software. Then I would create a five or ten section test strip (using masks) to apply to the image (or a copy of it). Each section would have different levels of brightness approximating the combination of printer and paper I was using. Copious notes were taken about the settings used and the results. Once I had chosen the best brightness adjustment level, then I would do the same procedure for contrast on the brightness adjusted image. When I identified the best combination of adjustments for the printer and paper combination, I would use those settings as a starting point for printing new images. This procedure tended to get me very close to the desired results for a specific combination of printer and paper.

However, having a profiled monitor, printer profile and a paper profile was much easier and more accurate.

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@RMA Iā€™m talking about lightning in general. If you work with color you need to have specific lightning so that the light source wonā€™t change your perception of colors (high CRI lamps).
Of course if you own a printer and have time then slowly you can figure out what needs to be done to have acceptable prints. But that will cost you a few dozen of prints.

You can try stripes. Excellent idea! You can buy reference print (just an example: Visual PRINT Reference Testform ā€“ Ugra) to see how properly printed photo matches the JPG on your display. But you still need to profile your printer. Search for online service which can do it for you. You just need to print test charts and send them.